Help in planning...

[dietgingerale]

I am headed to Disney for a first time visit with my husband and 6 year old son in March. We will be there Sunday-Friday, but as we won't get into FL until early afternoon on Sunday, I'm unsure what we should plan on doing on Sunday. And Friday is fully travel so really I need help planning Monday-Thursday.

We have tickets to have lunch w/Cinderella on Tuesday so that will be a MK day. But that's as far as I've gotten. I was tempted to skip Epcot this time and do two days at MK, one day at AK and one day at HS. Or maybe go into Epcot for a couple of hours Sunday night?

6 year old is very into Star Wars. He also is into seeing characters, so I am interested in meet and greets but also not willing to wait on line for 3 hours to do that. He isn't a fast ride kinda kid, so anything that is a fast roller coaster we would be fine skipping.

I just don't have any idea of how to plan this. I know I need to get fast passes but don't even know how to begin to schedule that bc I don't know where to go on what day. I have the unofficial guide and have read through a lot of it, but the reality is that normal day to day life is making finding the time to spend to fully research and plan all of this really hard and I'm getting to the point where we aren't that far from our trip and I am not excited bc I feel like I won't have it 'ready' in time. This is why my idea of vacation is a beach where you don't have to make plans and schedules far in advance ha ha. But this is not that---this is an experience for my kid so I want to make it good.

I know there are dedicated Disney travel agents---but we don't need tickets or hotel or airfare....got all of that plus have our wristbands...what about people who 'just' schedule all of the rides and provide us with an itinerary? I know the unofficial guide has schedules but I see a lot of rides that we may not be interested in, and I don't know if I can just take,those rides out or if that will mess up the timing?

Sorry for a scattered message here. Just overwhelmed because I don't know how to do this and have very little time todo so.
First question, what do you suggest we do for Sunday evening? Don't want to 'waste' time but don't want a very late night as I know we have to get up early to go on Monday.
What parks should I do on each day, knowing that tues is already MK. Is skipping Epcot ok for maybe two days at MK? Or should we do one day only at each park?

How in the heck can I plan what to see at each park and manage fast passes (since I'm not actually sure how i get those but assume I can figure that out...) if I don't have a ton of time to research and read books? Can I use the unofficial guide schedules and pick and choose rides?

 

[Alesia]

Here is how you plan a trip:
Step 1: Use the crowd calendar at easywdw.com to choose your days.
Step 2: If you want to make ADRs, choose them based on where you'll be for the day.
Step 3: To make a touring plan, start with the cheat sheets at easywdw.com and take out anything that doesn't interest you. Keep everything else in order Now you have a touring plan.
Step 4: Read the first couple of posts in Mesaboy2's FP+ thread.

 

[sharonabe]

I would second Alesia's suggestions.

As for EP, why not head over there on Sunday evening? They have a great character spot. If you can still get a FP for it, you won't have to wait long. Have a yummy QS dinner either at Sunshine Seasons or somewhere in World Showcase. Spend some time over at The Seas just watching the fish swim around. Do Spaceship Earth (the BIG ball), then head back to your resort for an early to bed.

 

[goopysolelady]

I wouldn't skip Epcot either... I like PP's suggestions and the Character Spot is great. Don't forget Spaceship Earth and Living With the Land. It may be difficult but you could FP Soarin'; Character Spot; and either SSE or The Seas. You can manage some Meet and Greets with Rope Drop. Since your time is short (#1) I'd determine what park you want to be at each day; (#2) get your dining reservations (unless you plan on quick meal's only) and (#3) get online for Fastpasses. For the MK, I'd try for the rides you think your son would enjoy and possibly a Meet & Greet. HS you'll want to try for Toy Story and Star Tours and in AK the safari and, if none of the rides would appeal to your son get FP for Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. It seems overwhelming but you can do it! You'll find yourself looking forward to trip once you make these decisions. I honestly thought I would HATE the new FP system but after using it for our last 2 trips I've learned to love it. I'd probably schedule Epcot on Sunday; HS~Tuesday; MK~Wednesday and AK on Thursday. You can easily cover AK in a little over a half day which would leave you time for the a return trip to the MK that evening. Just remember...try to schedule your FP's as early in the day as possible. If you finish all your "must do's" at a certain park on a certain day you can "hop" over to any park for the evening. Enjoy your trip! A little advance planning will make it magical!

 

[WDWLODGE]

Here is how you plan a trip:
Step 1: Use the crowd calendar at easywdw.com to choose your days.
Step 2: If you want to make ADRs, choose them based on where you'll be for the day.
Step 3: To make a touring plan, start with the cheat sheets at easywdw.com and take out anything that doesn't interest you. Keep everything else in order Now you have a touring plan.
Step 4: Read the first couple of posts in Mesaboy2's FP+ thread.

Alesia's post is a good place to start. As far as your check-in day what resort are you staying at? You could kickoff your trip with a character meal, a dinner show, a nice meal, etc. There could be some other ideas based on where you are staying.

 

[Alesia]

Alesia's post is a good place to start. As far as your check-in day what resort are you staying at? You could kickoff your trip with a character meal, a dinner show, a nice meal, etc. There could be some other ideas based on where you are staying.

I think anything pre-paid on arrival day is a bad idea. Unexpected delays are likely and if you miss it, you're out all of that money (which can be considerable.) Even with just a regular ADR, you'll pay the $10 per person no-show fee if you end up not being able to make it.

My plan for arrival day is always pretty low key - head to a park and grab a quick service dinner. I hate starting a vacation running around stressing about getting somewhere on time.

Epcot is always my park of choice. There are tons of great counter service option in the world showcase.

 

[rsagusti]

Sunday I would just explore your hotel or maybe go to a monorail hotel like Poly and watch the wishes fireworks from the beach/ see the nighttime boat parade. Something low key. We've made whole evenings of just checking out the monorail hotels.

I'm guessing you aren't doing table service dining except your reservation for Tuesday, that's fine.

Are you park hopping? I guess that's a big question, if you are you can do Epcot on your HS day because HS a lot of stuff is closed down for construction. I'd look at the park hours for both and decide which to do first and which to do early. I like HS at night because fantasmic is our favorite night show. There is a boat that goes between HS and Epcot (international gateway) and we love doing the different transportation while we are there). I definitely do think 2 days at MK is ideal, but you can always change your mind after Tuesday depending on how much you got to do while you were there.

So check the crowd calendar listed above and get a general plan for what parks what days. Don't feel bad skipping a park, we usually only do a half day at AK because there isn't much there and its the earliest closing park, however that is suppose to change pretty soon, not sure when though.

Have fun!!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Planning for a first visit recently has become miserable for people who aren't big on planning. I was so overwhelmed last year. My Hubby said he hadn't seen me that stressed since planning our wedding. The good news is that if you choose to do it again, it will be much easier and even fun. Hang in there. The first reply had very good advice. I don't think you said if you were staying on site or not, but if so, there is a lot to do at resorts so we make our arrival day a resort day. To decide if you want to do 2 MK days instead of Epcot look at the descriptions of the attractions at each park (on Disneys website) and decide what you think your son will like more. From what you said, it sounds like MK may be the way to go. While Epcot has some great things to do and see, if you decide to skip it, your son won't know what he missed.

To clarify a couple things previous posters said, to go to more than one park a day you need park hopper tickets, ADRs are advanced dining reservations, and CS is counter service, Disney fast food, basically.

Good luck and planning will pay off once you get there.